Defence suggests woman made up story about boyfriend beating her up

Matthew David Paul King is escorted into the courtroom at provincial court in St. John's Tuesday, the second day of his aggravated assault trial.Rosie Mullaley/The Telegram

The lawyer for a man accused of viciously beating his girlfriend went on the attack Tuesday, accusing the woman of lying.

Richard Deveau — who represents Matthew David Paul King in an aggravated assault trial at provincial court in St. John's — suggested to Julie Summers that she made up the story about King beating her.

While cross-examining Summers in Day 2 of King's trial, Deveau went so far as to say the woman was out of control that night and caused her own injuries.

"Don't you remember getting really mad?" Deveau said to her. "Don't you remember Matthew saying you had to get off drugs? Do you remember trying to lunge at him, tripping and smacking your face off the counter?"

King, 26, faces charges of aggravated assault, along with counts of breaching court orders, as a result of an incident April 25, 2015, at the couple's house in the Goulds.

The attack was said to have happened at about 3:30 a.m. after the couple had returned home from a gathering.

The two — who had been dating for about a year and living together about a year at the time — had been drinking. Summers said King was much more intoxicated.

Summers said she said something "to set him off," and the two began arguing and that's when King viciously attacked her.

First King reportedly pushed her head into the wall in the kitchen. Summers said she ran screaming to the bathroom, where King again grabbed her by the back of the head and banged her face on the counter.

RNC photographs taken at the hospital, and entered into evidence, show Summers' injuries. She suffered several facial fractures, a split lip, a black eye that was swollen shut and several other lacerations and bruises.

On Monday, the opening day of the trial, Summers testified that King "bounced my face off the (bathroom) counter like a basketball."

But in an attempt to quash her credibility, Deveau inferred Summers had taken intravenous drugs that night, that King left the house because he was upset they were spending too much money on drugs and that when he returned, she screamed at him.

He suggested the hole in the kitchen wall was caused by King and Summers' son "horsing around" prior to the incident.

"I'll put it to you that the hole was already there," Deveau said.

"I'll put it to you that it was not," Summers quickly replied.

Deveau questioned how she could've had her head rammed into the wall and not have any marks on the top of her head or a concussion.

"The marks could've been under my hair," said Summers, who added that she had severe headaches after the beating.

He also wondered why Summers didn't agree to talk to police until a month after the incident and only days after she saw King's new girlfriend.

"I was very traumatized," she said. "I just wanted everything to settle down."

Summers said she feared King would get out of jail, and come back and kill her.

Testimony is on hold as lawyers argue a legal issue Wednesday. Proceedings are expected to resume Thursday.

rmullaley@thetelegram.com

Twitter: TelyCourt

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